I am honored to be here with you all on this joyous and important occasion.

You can tell by the looks on the faces of these children what this function means to them as those who are badged today become important pillars in the school structure this year.

This badge that prefects will receive today is not just an ornament for your school uniform. It is a responsibility that you will carry for the rest of the year.

While this responsibility is with you for this year, it passes on to someone else next year – but the qualities of the badge, the responsibility that you have as a leader, you will carry with you for a lifetime.

This is because you ALL have the potential to become a leader. You all have the potential to become the future leaders of this nation. You have the potential to become a future teacher or principal at this school.

The administrators of this school have seen this potential in you and have chosen you for this important role.

This morning, I would like to share with you some qualities that I personally believe should be present in a good leader.

A good leader starts with a greeting and leaves with a handshake. The impression you start with and the impression you leave with must always be positive. A smile goes a long way and a pat on the back is a lifetime memory.

A good leader is always focused and keeps the team in the same direction. This means the leader does not lose sight of the goal, keeps working towards it and also motivates the team to strive towards success.

Honesty and integrity. Two very important qualities of a leader. You must carry out your duties as a leader with utmost honesty and integrity as it determines your character.

Your character is defined by your confidence and your humility. Because if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will. You must be bold and fearless and at the same time, be humble.

Another key ingredient that makes good leaders is mentorship. The knowledge imparted by parents and teachers is very important as it affects what students learn.

My message to parents and teachers is to provide these students with the right knowledge, encourage them, motivate them and more importantly inspire them.

As the Supervisor of Elections, I frequently come across situations where people question my actions. You might have seen this happening a lot on TV recently and as we approach the election, expect more of this to happen.

I have a very simple principle that I operate with and here it is:

Imagine if you have $86,400 in your bank account and someone stole $10 from you. Would you be upset and throw away all your $86,390 in hopes of getting back at the person who took $10 from you? Or would you move on and live with the $86,390?

Exactly. We all would move on and live with that $86,390.

Similarly ladies and gentlemen, we have 86,400 seconds in a day. So don’t let someone’s negative 10 seconds ruin the rest of the 86,390 seconds.

Don’t sweat on the small stuff. Life is greater than that.

To the prefects, I wish you all the best in your endeavors and to all the students, I encourage you to strive for success to try and prove to your teachers and parents that you can become good leaders.